Bertie Ahern presidential bid would have been ‘bruising’ for him, says Martin

If Bertie Ahern had been chosen as Fianna Fail’s presidential candidate, it would have been “bruising” for him, Micheal Martin has said.

The Taoiseach and Fianna Fail leader was speaking after dealing with the fallout of his party’s presidential candidate, Jim Gavin, dramatically withdrawing from the race.

The move came after the Irish Independent reported claims from a tenant who said he had failed to recover more than 3,000 euro in overpaid rent from Mr Gavin 16 years ago.

Fianna Fail members have been expressing their disappointment and frustration since, prompting questions about Mr Martin’s leadership as he had publicly backed Mr Gavin over party politicians.

Mr Martin said he accepted the desire from his party that they would run a candidate.

“I did recommend that, I’m not responsible for everything that unfolded, obviously, because we would have been totally unaware of the issue despite very comprehensive due diligence,” he told the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk.

He said, before the summer recess, they did not have a candidate and “no-one” in the party expressed an interest in running for the presidency until the end of July.

Mr Martin said this included MEP Billy Kelleher, who would go on to contest against Mr Gavin for the party’s election nominee.

He narrowly lost to Mr Gavin in early September in a vote by the Fianna Fail parliamentary party.

Others who have said publicly they wanted to win the Fianna Fail nomination include former Taoiseach and Fianna Fail leader Bertie Ahern; former Fianna Fail minister Mary Hanafin; and former singer and campaigner Bob Geldof.

“I don’t think Bertie would have made it, nothing against Bertie at all, I have great respect for Bertie Ahern because of what he did for the peace process,” he said.

“It’s one of the single greatest achievements in Irish society, that peace process, and he deserves huge credit for that.

“It would have been incredibly bruising for him, I don’t know why he would want to bring it upon himself.”

He said Mr Gavin’s issue was one issue and one situation and referred to the “enormity” of what would be “churned out” against Mr Ahern.

Asked about a query Fianna Fail received from the Irish Independent on September 8 about a tenant issue with Mr Gavin, Mr Martin said: “‘Are you aware of’ was the type of question and the answer was, ‘no we’re not’.”

He said the issue was put to Mr Gavin and he denied it.

Mr Martin said: “There was other rumours as well and this is very difficult for people who put themselves forward.”

He said he had not spoken to Mr Gavin since Sunday but he would.

“I feel very sorry for him. It’s been very traumatic for him because this is a man who has achieved a lot.”

The tenant who made the allegations against Mr Gavin, Niall Donald, on Wednesday told a podcast he co-hosts he also “feels sorry” for his former landlord, saying: “I do feel that maybe he’s been punished too much.”

Speaking on the Crime World with Nicola Tallant, the Sunday World journalist said he could empathise with the financial difficulties Mr Gavin was facing at the time, telling his co-host: “Maybe he had huge pressures, and I was just one little one of them, maybe it wasn’t even the biggest one.”

But Mr Donald has expressed astonishment at how Finna Fail handled the situation claiming the party had been aware of the story for weeks: “why didn’t they just contact me a few weeks ago and sort it out, or explain it to me, or explain it to somebody?”

Mr Gavin’s withdrawal less than three weeks before polling day means his name will remain on the ballot paper.

Just two candidates are left in the race for the presidency: left-wing independent Catherine Connolly, who is backed by various opposition parties including Sinn Fein; and Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys, a former social protection minister.

Polling day is on October 24.